Shinigami: My Story
by yuuhiuzumaki
Summary: This is the story of Akamade Asuka one of the world's natural Shinigami. Welcome to his world of ups and downs. AsukaOC later: HitsuMatsu, RetsuRenji, YoruIchiRuki, IshiOri, IrugaIsane,


A/N: Don't own Bleach; never will, yadayadayada.. done!

**Shinigami: My Story**

**Chapter One: Awakening**

I don't know when it started to occur to me that the world was not what it seemed on the outside as it was on the inside of our minds. We go through life everyday seeing what we believe is true and shun the other side of the world that we refuse to believe. I can see the other side of the Earth. It's true; I can. I see the horrible creatures walking among me occasionally, and I get sacred when I do. Their horrible masks and the gaping hole piercing through their bodies; it's just frightening.

Would you like to know my name? They call me Akamade Asuka; I'm a fifteen year-old student at Furikamaru High School in Osaka. I have black eyes and dark brown hair, slightly messy and tied up in a ponytail at the end, and love the colour black. I have black in everything practical I wear, even if it is just a hint of it, much to my mother's dismay. I'm the first child out of a household of four children; all of them are boys except for my younger sister, who is just one year younger than me; Ayumi; she's quite popular with the guys, and I don't really care about it that much; I'm not an over-protective person. The other two are my second sibling Izumo and my youngest brother Aoshi; who are three years apart from each other but still mix together very well.

My father is a businessman that goes everywhere; I don't see him very often; not that I want to.

I'm an average student in my school and my ambition is to become a pilot in the future, which lead to the relationship with my father spiralling downwards. But I don't want to talk about it.

I also enjoy manga, mainly "Naruto" and "Rurouni Kenshin", and I get the new ones when the opportunity arrives; my mother disapproves of them, but I get them anyway. Why" Because I am interested in it; you can't just destroy an interest that someone has in something; it's not right.

I have several fears, but the one thing I fear above all are the creatures that I see floating in the sky and I even see them, sometimes, eating a person alive. It was so horrendous to see them. When I saw them first was when I was at the age of five, my mother told me that it was my imagination. It was not, I also saw a person, three years later, when I was around eight years or age, clad in dark robes fighting one of those monstrosities a year later, and I was entranced.

I remembered his face clearly, as though I was meant to remember him and somehow, I knew that I would meet him again. His face was bearded and he had a scar over his right eye, and he was clad in a black yutaka-like outfit with what looked like a samurai sword with him, he also had a tattoo over his right arm that pronounced the word "Warrior" in a katakana, and all around that word was what looked like a serpent coiling around it. He had an aura of strength around him.

He slew the monster, as I recalled, and three more came at him. He never stood a chance in the end, and I saw him flee from the scene of the battle, but I saw that man, and I saw his sword, and felt that it was somehow alive. I was entranced by the power that he emanated within himself, it felt like what one of the "chakra" that the ninjas used in the anime "Naruto", but there was one difference.

I was foolish, and I decided to follow him; such is the curiosity of an eight year-old boy. I never did find him in the end; he disappeared down an alleyway, where I was found later by my Uncle Ono.

The day ended with me being told off by my mother about my wanderings and making her worry.

Seven years have passed since that event, but I'm sure that it would not be the last that I see of the man, or of the creatures. The creatures, I see occasionally, and when I do, I try my best to get in the opposite direction because I know about the happenings when they are around; death and discord.

The creatures seem to have an affinity for human souls, but I ignore it; it's really puzzling when you think about it, since I have seen the very soul of a human being sucked out of them, you probably won't know. You can't see them; I can. I don't consider myself to be special to be able to see them.

I feel cursed at seeing them with my eyes. I've never told my mother or anyone else about it, and I don't plan to. I don't want to see them. It's so frightening and horrid to have to go through life seeing these demons that I am positive that psychiatrists would just try to get rid of with counselling.

Newsflash; these _demons _are real, and I know that sometime in the future I will face them, or probably someone that has the same eyes as me. I can't think of a person that has the same capabilities as that, but there probably are, since I saw that man being able to fight them.

Maybe there are more people like me, maybe not; who knows?

I also thought about doing things to help even out the situation against the monsters, but looking at myself, I don't see that I can; those creatures are incredible in their strength, and even more so in their abilities; they can stretch themselves; they can fly, they can even suck a _soul _out!

The only thing that seemed to be able to hurt any of them is a sword, but I have a feeling that even the Legendary Miyamoto Musashi could have been cut down to pieces by the monsters. So what could hurt them, you ask? That man's sword; the one he took with him when he fought those things. That sword felt different from the other blades that I had seen; that sword reeked of _life_. It was _alive_; as crazy as it sounds, I know that that sword is a living being? Could it be like a transforming creature of the sorts? I don't know. And also, since thinking about this so much, my grades dropped.

My parents were not happy with me; I'm one of the _Akamade; we're meant to be smart…_

Everyone wants perfection from me; I'd love to give it to them if they gave some to me.

I hate having the mask of a perfect boy when I just want to be normal on the inside.

And the masks of those monsters are a perfect reminder of what I'm keeping up.

And slowly, I can feel the monsters getting closer to my life; to my family; to my friends.

It's not a good feeling, and as I feel them getting closer to me, I feel that my very soul is fading.

My cell phone rang, signalling me to take my first breath of the day. My alarm clock is broken for the moment, and I'm using my cell phone as a substitute for it with it's "Alarm Clock" function. I find that I'm straight away in my green pyjamas with papayas all over them; a present from my travelling Uncle Shido and Aunt Niitsu. I got off my bed, switching off my cell phone and grab my black towel to have a quick shower and be one my way to school after breakfast.

My room is very typical, with a second-hand desk with drawers given to me by my grandfather over two years ago, and I have my GameCube console tucked away in a box, along with the games. I have a laptop on my desk, which is filled to the brim with videos that I made with my friends.

I went down the hall to a bathroom that I share with my brothers and sister, and found out that no one was inside yet. I entered, and found several toys on the floor, mostly water guns. It's probably Izumo's doing; he loves his water guns and mock swords as well as _my _GameCube.

It's not as though I have time to play with it anyway; I'm mostly on my laptop or watching Naruto online. I discard my clothing and get into the shower, using some shampoo to get any dandruff or dust that I had collected in my sleep. Needless to say, there wasn't any. Fifteen minutes passed in silence as I wet my body and cleaned it before I got out of there.

I rarely took that short to have a bath, not that it matters, anyway.

Around a time-space of seven seconds later I was out of the bathroom and my youngest brother was up, in his space-rocket pyjamas, rubbing the sand out of his eyes as he held a towel to his chest. He looked a lot like me, except he was pale, while I was slightly tan compared to my other siblings, and had wilder hair than mine. He took the colour of his eyes from my father; brown.

'Good morning, Aoshi.' I greeted to him, and I was given back a yawn.

My little brother's morning breath really reeks, not that I'd tease him about it; he's quite sensitive.

'Good morning, Asuka-niisan; is Neechan up yet?' he asks me, yawning again.

'I'm not really sure, and I definitely am not going to see if she is up yet.'

My dear little sister is a girl with an extremely short temper; wake her up and the person is as good as pinned to the wall by a single knock of her fist. I'm one of the few that knew how to dodge such blows. She also cried more frequently than any other girl I know, and it was mostly to show everyone a veil of innocence to cover her deceiving front; she's basically a sly weasel to me.

I gave my youngest brother a pat on the back and went back to my room to dress for school; it's Tuesday, the day that I hand in my Chinese Language Report; I don't know why I take it; as well as German tutorials and Spanish classes by my Aunt Aoi? I'm already good at the Spanish language, I must say; I don't need anymore of those things. It's not like they really care; everyone just wants me to be the perfect boy of th Akamade Ichizoku, since I am the oldest of my generation. I hate it.

Why doesn't anyone push their hopes on someone else, like my imouto for example?

I already know the answer to that; it's because she's a woman; only a man can lead an Ichizoku.

I open my closet and put on an orange tank top and boxers before putting on my black school trousers and black school top. Furikamaru, here I come. I get my laptop and put it into my schoolbag and exit my room, finding out that my two other siblings were already up and already arguing.

'I was here first, you sweaty beaver!' my dear sister shrilled at my younger brother.

'At least I didn't go strutting around like a playgirl around Niisan's school!'

I remember that incident; my sister tried to charm a few of my fellow school-goers, some of them seniors, and was shot down painfully. She gave them incredibly powerful blows for rejecting her.

Don't get me wrong; my sister is a pretty girl to my friends, and is a shade of tan under me in skin tone. I'm not very dark, I'm just slightly tan, which I get from my exploits at the beach last week.

My brother is much tanner than I am, because of his outdoor activities.

He's a soccer star for his junior school, and Vice-Captain as well. Even I'm not as good as him.

I prefer baseball, and am a fair pitcher as well. I play in the A Squad for my High School.

Not that I like to play baseball very much; it's just a good way to move a muscle once in a while.

'Niisan, are you going to school already?' my brother turned to me; he was quite short for his age.

I stood almost six feet, and Izumo was only just about reaching the four-and-a-half foot mark.

My youngest brother was only ten centimetres shorted than him, and he was only eight.

'Yeah; I'll see you guys later.' I told him, walking down the stairs to the dining room.

Izumo, if I had to describe him in words, looked at me as his role model; I felt pride in that.

'See ya later, imouto-chan.' I said to my sister, who I felt glare at my back.

I walked down the steps and found my mother making some breakfast as she talked on the cordless phone. Everyone called me the perfect blend of my mother and father, I had all their good features; they said. I had my mother's eyes and my father's nose. I had her frown and his smirk; all their best-looking traits. I ignored all those praises; I did not like being compared to people.

'Asuka, your father told you that he looks forward to your Physics results.' she said to me.

That would always be the first thing that my mother greets me with; something or the other that concerns my results in school or my attitude. I don't care about any of them.

'I'm going to school early today.' that was my reply as I went for the door.

Before she could say anything, I was already out of the door. I sighed as I looked at the sky above me; as blue as ever and slightly cloudy. I liked the sky; it reminded me of myself. What I liked about Naruto, the anime I loved to watch, was the fact that so many people in there could relate to me. Naruto himself, the main character, who hides behind his cheerful mask; Uchiha Sasuke, best friend to the protagonist that turned villain, who strives to prove his worth as a member of his Clan; Hatake Kakashi, who tried to clear the disgraced name of his father, and create one of his own.

They're just a few of the people that I can relate to in the world of fantasy.

After several minutes of walking, I realised that my shoelaces are untied, I bend down to the street and tie them together again, and that was when there was a presence behind me.

I whirled around and saw a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses, he had a buzz cut upon himself, revealing short stubs of hair as well as a slightly shave beard. He wore a green shirt with flower designs on it, which I thought was strange, and cargo pants and sandals on his feet.

'Good morning to you, young man.' he greeted me with a slight smile.

'Good morning to you too, sir.' I said back to him, slightly confused at this stranger's appearance.

He walked up to me, and strangely, he began to be looking as though he was inspecting me, as though I was an item for sale; needless to say, I was more than a little irritated at him for this.

'You're not in such bad shape, young man; you've grown well.' he said; I was confused.

'Do I know you from somewhere? Because, frankly, I don't think that I have ever met you.'

He laughed, heartily, I might add, and he gave me a slight smirk.

'Of course you think that you have never met me; it's been such a long time.'

What in the world was this man talking about? He didn't make any sense.

'They're very curious about your Rei, Asuka-san.' he said; my eyes widened considerably.

'How do you know my name?' I questioned him, teeth clenched; he replied with another smirk.

'She is going to wake up very soon; and when the time comes, don't hesitate to draw her out.'

He walked away from me; I wanted to shout at him to come back, but my mouth had other plans, and I just stood there, slightly gaping at the man as he disappeared down the street.

What was he talking about? Who was _she_? He said something about her waking up soon.

I guess that I'll ignore all this first; my first priority is to get to school. I turn around, and all the while I walk, I am puzzled by that man; who was he? That was the main question that plagued my mind. He never did seem familiar, but that man felt as though he wasn't… alive?

My imagination is getting too out of hand here; how could a person be dead when he's…

Could he be a ghost? A real human spirit that is stuck between the realms of Heaven and Earth?

No, ghosts aren't real; there can't be such things as ghosts? Then what are _those things?_

The creatures with their masks and gaping holes piercing their chest, emitting horrible laughter as the consume the very soul of a human being. I've seen them before; I've seen the ritual where those monsters devoured the very soul of a woman in the park; I never heard screams.

It was silent torture; I knew that the soul was suffering as it was consumed by the monster.

I don't think I want to think about it anymore; my head already hurts just thinking about it.

Several more minutes passed, and I finally reached the front of my school.

'Damn it, this going to be a long day; I just know it.' I moaned, exasperated.

There weren't exactly that many students that had arrived yet; since it's so early. It's around one hour or so before the school bell rings. I slung my school bag over my shoulder, and felt myself yawn very slightly as the clouds began to gather overhead. I entered the front gates of my school and went straight to the entrance to the school building, and my mind was blank.

My class was two floors above the ground floor; class 1-A. Before that, though, I had to get some books out of my locker, since my Calculus books were not with me. My locker was numbered five-six-two, which was a row of lockers down. I walked down the row and entered the empty lane between two blocks of lockers. I walked down for a while, and saw my locker and opened it, revealing its contents. There was my gym bag, that I had not used for the week yet; my Physics, Calculus, Chemistry, English Language, Chinese Language and Japanese History textbooks. The majority of my books resided here most of the time, since I use my laptop and notes more often than my textbooks.

'Asuka-kun; I didn't expected you to be here so early!' came a very familiar voice.

Let me introduce my fellow baseball player, Sawamura Ikichi. He was blonde, had dark blue eyes very tanned and extremely tall, standing half a foot taller than me. People say that he should play basketball, but when I saw him play the game rather poorly; he could not dribble or shoot; he could jump, but he was only an average basketball centre at that. He also loved to wear a scarf around his neck, which was red in colour, saying that it brought him good luck. He was a shortstop and a very talented batsman; he wants to get into the Baseball League in the future and go to America and play for one of the top Baseball Clubs there; I wished him luck.

'Ikichi; what are _you _doing here?' I questioned him, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity.

'Baseball, you know! I came here at dawn to practice my batting skills!' he replied.

At dawn; it definitely sounded like Ikichi; I don't know him well, but the guy is crazy enough to start his training regiment at the crack of dawn, unlike myself; I play when I have to, which is not often.

'Sounds like the thing that you would do.' I reply to him nonchalantly, and grab my books out.

'Yo, what is the matter with you; you're in a bad mood today!' he said.

'It's nothing; sorry.' I said, and made my way past him and up to my class.

I never divulge anything about my life with my family to anyone that I know outside; it's rude and people spread rumours faster than a wildfire. I went up the stairs and saw that there was something strange; then again, every morning in high school seems strange since I'm one of the only students that are crazy enough to come this early to class. I go down the hall, and my classroom is waiting for me on one side of the corridor. I entered it, and saw that it had one occupant inside.

Omazumi Iruga, the school heart-throb and one of my closest friends. He was at his desk, which was at the head of the class, his reading glasses out, and studying his Chinese Language.

'Good morning, Asuka; so how are you today?' he said, without looking up from his book.

It was typical of him to do that; he was a fairly serious guy, but he cracked the best jokes and sarcastic comebacks in the world; and I could vouch for it. He had grey hair, which I find slightly strange, and green eyes and a scar across his left cheek. It was not noticeable, and his fangirls seemed to really like that, as it enchanced his good features, much to his dismay.

He reminded me of the real Uchiha Sasuke in the flesh, except he wasn't arrogant and he was much more sociable than the character would ever be. He was also a talented artist, and loved to draw landscapes and people. I remembered as well that, funnily, he has a fear of snakes.

'So what are you doing here so early?' I asked him, setting my school bag down.

'I decided to come here early; and I suppose that it's the same case with you?'

I gave a slight grin and took my seat next to him, as he read the textbook.

'Yeah, you can say that.' I replied to him to him, rubbing the back of my neck.

'Oh, yeah; and the School Principal wants you to give a speech if you can, in my place.'

'_Why?_' I stood up and hissed at him before I stopped myself; he chuckled.

'You are the obvious choice of course, since my fan brigade would probably be shrieking my name the moment I get on stage. I have some business to attend to on that day with my parents.'

I slightly growled at him for giving me the responsibility of giving a speech on the day after tomorrow. And it was not just _any _speech; it was the one where I had to address the School Principal in place of the Class Representative since my good friend will not be here on that day. It was basically the biggest speech a freshman in senior high school can get in his or her year.

'Tell you what; I'll ask one of my other friends if they have the latest episode of Naruto.'

'Remember; it's Naruto episode one-hundred and fifty.' I told him; he smirked at me.

I sat back down on my seat and took out my laptop, waiting for the school day to begin.

It would, around an hour later, but before that, I was greeted by my close friends that had arrived.

'GOOD MORNING, ASUKA-SAN!' came the shrill voice of my loud friend, Yagami Hiko.

Hiko was slightly shorter than me and brown-haired, loud, had brown eyes. Did I mention he was loud? I guess I did. He was a sports fanatic and more than often, could be seen wearing a yellow t-shirt under his school uniform; the same t-shirt was worn everyday, I noticed.

'Good morning, Hiko.' that was my first reply for the day to him; he grinned.

'Asuka-san, guess what? I have tickets to see Juventus FC play the Japan National Team!'

Juventus? From what I heard, wasn't that a soccer club somewhere in Italy?

'It's like a dream come true; and they'll be coming here in the middle of Summer Vacation!'

Ah, yes; Summer Vacation. Unlike most people, I did not enjoy that time of the school year. It was mainly because my vacation was spent on revising work with my parents. I despised that.

'I also am going to be in Spain for ten days; my father said that I could bring two friends with me!' and then, he came up to me; too close for my comfort, 'Asuka-san, do you want to go with me?'

The feeling of a vacation in Spain felt like a very good proposition, but I would know what my mother and father would say when I gave them the news; a big fat _"No"_.

'I have plans for Summer Vacation, Hiko; why don't you ask Goku?'

Edogama Kagoku, or "Goku" as we affectionately call him, is short and fat, loves to eat pork, and has messy black hair and slightly tanned skin as well as dark blue eyes. He is also one of the smartest students the school had to offer; he was smarter than me and almost on par with Iruga in his studies, except that he was quite abysmal in languages other than Japanese and Spanish.

'I'll pass; I'm going to Kanagata with my father; we're visiting my grandparents.'

'What! Than who am I going to take with me? I don't want to be alone!'

'What's this you guys are going on about?' Ikichi had arrived in the classroom.

'Ikichi! You are my last hope; would you like to come to Spain with me?'

Ikichi and Hiko were friends, and the reason I knew Ikichi was from Hiko introducing me.

'Is there baseball in Spain?' Ikichi said, looking down at the short Hiko; he shook his head.

'No baseball; sorry, but I guess I won't go. I need to toughen up my skills.'

'I'll go with you if you'd like, Hiko-kun.' came the voice of a girl.

It was the old pre-school bully that turned into a sweet girl; Yamanato Yukiko. She was blonde, had her hair tied up in a ponytail, and wore a hairclip of a bumblebee on the right side of her head. She also had quite a good figure, and was taller than Hiko by three inches.

'Yukiko-chan; would you really?' he looked up to her, and I could have sworn I saw a tear of joy.

'Of course I will, Hiko-kun; I'll get permission from my parents first, okay?'

'I LOVE YOU!' I rolled my eyes as the much shorter Hiko clasped upon Yukiko like a parasite.

I wonder what their children would be like? Sweet, annoying and loud? Most probable.

Suddenly, I saw a silhouette go past the window; out of pure instinct, I went to a nearby window and opened it, thrusting me head outside to see if it was there; it wasn't. It had vanished.

'Asuka, what are you doing? You just rushed over from your seat to the window.'

I turned to Yukiko, who had her hands on her hips and shook my head, walking back over to my seat and flopped back down to my chair, sighing; it was going to be a bad day, I could feel it. I looked over to my friend Iruga, who surprisingly, was looking towards the window, his expression serious.

Somehow, I felt that Iruga had seen whatever that thing was outside the window.

The day had ended for me in the most interesting of ways; it fifteen minutes happened before the bell rang, signifying me to take my leave from school. And out of all the things, it involved with accidental contact between my two classmates Hiko and Yukiko. It was like this; Hiko was on his way back from the washroom, and somebody had apparently left a puddle of water between two aisles of chairs and desks. Hiko slipped on the puddle, and Yukiko tried to catch him. She was not successful.

Although she did manage to cushion his fall, the blonde girl was awarded by my friend having his face pushed to her chest. My Physics teacher was appalled, but kept on teaching after that, and Hiko was blushing at himself for the rest of the fifteen minutes of class we had; even I was still sniggering in my head. The girls of the class, however, threw glares that could melt Antartica at Hiko.

Needless to say, it was quite an amusing sight to behold when I saw Hiko blush.

The sky is turning orange now, and the night sky is well on its way here. It's only three o' clock, and the night comes by so fast; it's almost as though it just rushes throughout the year.

I walked out the gates of the school as my friend Iruga seemed to have taken another road that lead to his home. He had a very serious look on his face when he took off.

I walked my own way, back to my own home, and I'm not exactly in a rush.

'Asuka-san, why are you going home so early? Is there a rush?'

I whirled around, and the same man that I saw in the morning was there, a proud smirk on his face.

'Alright; who the hell are you and what do you want?' I literally shout at him.

'Kid, you might not want to shout at me so loud, people might think you're crazy.'

'I'll shout at you in whatever tone I want; why are you stalking me?'

There was silence for a moment, and he looked deep into my eyes; I stood frozen stiff.

'She'll wake up soon, call her name out and she'll answer you. The time will come soon.'

'You still have not answered my question; who the hell are you, old man?'

He still smirked at me, and took out a pair of sunglasses, putting them on.

'They call me Ikazuchi Ryo; I'm a renegade Shinigami, and at your service.'

Did this guy just say that he was a Shinigami? It was a very strange sentence to hear.

'Are you high on drugs or something?' I almost shouted at him once more; he kept smirking.

'You have tremendous potential, boy. Even more than him; although he is already above you in both strength and skill.' who was this man talking about? He continued, 'Let me ask you a question, Asuka-san; don't you see any of those monsters in the streets and in your dreams?'

My blood ran cold, and he just kept smirking; I glared at him; he still smirked at me.

'How do you know about them?' I question him; his face turned serious.

He turned on his heel and began to walk away from me, his hands in his pockets. I ran forward to grab him, but I instantly passed through; unbelievable. This person was intangible.

'You can't touch the human soul or a Shinigami's with that body, Asuka-san.'

My shock was immeasurable as he looked down at my form on the floor. For what seemed like an eternity, our eyes were locked together, as though they were in combat.

'You definitely have potential to become one of the best.' he said, still smirking.

'What are you talking about? And what about these monsters that I've see all my life.'

My head was pounding, and my heart was beating rapidly. He looked down seriously at me.

'Take a walk with me; I'll tell you what you want to know about what is going on.'

Somehow, the words "never trust a stranger" were irrelevant to me at this time. I had finally found someone who knew of these things; someone who knew what they wer and why I can see them.

We walked for a while, and reached an empty park, sitting down on an empty bench.

'Those monsters are what we Shinigami call Hollows. They vary in size, strength and mentality but all of them have two things in common; one, they devour human souls, as you have probably seen before, and two, only a person with the power of a Shinigami can purify them. Shinigami are like soldiers of the afterlife, you see, and we chase down these Hollows to purify them.'

'So these things are _Hollows_? How long have these things been around? How come I've been the only one that could see them? Why are they here? What do they want with me?'

'_You_?' he raised a questioning eyebrow as I got to my feet, 'What would they want with you? Nothing; it's just the way they do things: they eat human souls. They don't want anything with you, but they want something _from _you. Your Rei; what the human souls are made of.' he went on; I listened intently, 'Your Rei is equal to the power of a hundred human souls put together; it's not as strong as a Shinigami's yet, but you are a special person among the humans of Earth. Out of an amount of ten million people, there will only be one such as you. You are an abnormality, and your high Rei potential has given your eyes to see what normal humans cannot; you can see underneath the surface of your world; you can look into the world of the Dead.'

'So you're saying that my spirit is a hundred times more powerful than that of a normal person's?'

'That is correct; but there is another thing about you that is even stranger.'

He rubbed his neck and looked to the red sky, his face much more calculating than before.

'You're one of a generation of natural Shinigami born on the face of the Earth.'

I was shocked; me? A potential Shinigami? A normal boy going through adolescence?

'You're a very interesting egg; ones such as yourself only appear once every thousands of years.'

I took all the information in. There were these monsters that I had been seeing since I was a child, haunting my dreams and stalking me in the day for as long as I could remember. Then this man had just showed up earlier in the morning and he knows everything about these things. They're Hollows; they eat souls. Shinigami's are suppose to purify these things and bring them back to the afterlife. And after all that, I found out that I myself am a Shinigami? It's too hard to take in.

'So you're saying that I'm a one-in-a-million Shinigami potential?' I said to him.

'That you are, and I'm going to train you so you get it right.'

Suddenly, there was a bloodcurdling scream; I recognised it as a woman's voice.

'There are Hollows in the area!' Ryo called out, running towards the scream.

I followed him and soon enough, I saw three Hollows, all of which were huge; they had a woman pinned to a wall of a home, and looked as though they were about to devour her. I looked at the woman closely; it was my mother! On the ground were grocery bags and littered food cans, some of which were stepped upon by the three ape-like Hollows. I looked in horror as one of the Hollows came closer to my mother, and I could see the wisps of her very soul being drawn out.

'Asuka, back off; I'll take care of these guys!' Ryo leapt at them.

I watched as the Hollow released my mother, and Ryo caught her before she reached the ground. The two other Hollows attempted to claw at Ryo, but he leapt away from them with one jump. Then, suddenly, I watched as another Hollow leapt at them, seemingly out of nowhere.

'Asuka, take her and go!' Ryo dropped my mother to me, who I caught with my arms.

'But what about you?' I shout out to him, taking a step back.

'I'm experienced with these things; I'll live, now go!' he shouts at me.

I watch as he drew out a sword, much like a samurai's blade, from a sheath that I did not see when I first met him. It seemed as though he made it appear out of thin air.

I ran as fast as I could, as far away as I could from the scene. I was cared for my life; I was scared for my mother's life. She then began to stir slightly; I set her down on a bench and turned back to the direction where Ryo was. I could see clouds of dust beginning to gather at the scene. I ran back there, I don't know why; I just did. It was as though my presence was needed there.

I reached the place where Ryo was, and saw that he had slain a Hollow, leaving two more. I felt a presence behind me, and whirled around, seeing that there were at least another three Hollows there.

Ryo could not hold them off for long; he had to either flee or, well… flee…

'What are you still doing here? I told you to run!' Ryo shouted to me, slashing at the Hollows.

There were suddenly more Hollows in the area, four of them, and they were advancing on me, this time. They were ape-like, and strong. One of them rached down to me, and knocked me nack several feet, hitting my back to a tree in the park. My back felt aching; my spine would surely have cracked from such a blow. The Hollows then advanced on me, and I got up slowly, feeling some blood come up from my throat and out of my mouth. The taste of the red liquid was upon my mouth, and the Hollows were going to eat me up. On the day that I found out what they were…

My body felt like it was aching, my bones felt as though they were made of straw, and my vision was blurring; the mask of the Hollow intent on devouring me was the last I was to see in this world…

I couldn't hear Ryo calling out to me; my ears had probably gone deaf.

I then felt pain; unbearable pain. My bones felt as though they were being shattered, my head was going to explode, and my heart about to be crushed; I guess my soul was being sucked out of me. I wanted to die; this pain was worse than anything that I had ever felt before.

'It's not your time to go yet, wake up, Asuka…' a voice called out to me.

It was feminine, soft and gentle, yet, it held a fire within it; it was strong, powerful…

'Draw my blade, fight them; live…' the voice continued; filling me with a flame of strength.

The Hollow let go of my body, and the power of my soul began to build up inside of me, made of pure light. My body no longer ached, it felt as though I was healing myself; my pain was forgotten, and I could feel my strength returning to me; whatever the feeling was, it was enlightening.

The Hollows began to back off from me, obviously intimidated by whatever I was emanating.

I then felt something in my hand, but nothing was there; but something _felt _there.

I swung my arm forwards, creating what looked like a gigantic arrow of pure power.

The next moment, I was enveloped by a white light, and was covered in a black combnation of yutaka and gi, with a samurai's sword in my hands and its sheath by my side.

The Hollows roared, and by instinct, I charged at the nearest Hollow, and leapt up almost twenty feet, before bringing down a the sword upon it, cleanly cutting it in half. It disappeared, no, came apart into a thousand pieces, that looked like ashes, and flew to the sky. The other Hollows then came charging at me. I, somehow, did not feel any fear inside of me.

With a quick motion, the two Hollows were missing their masks and followed the first slain Hollow's example. I was impressed by my own actions. Turning to my left, I saw Ryo finish off the Hollows that he had been facing, a lot of sweat coming down his face as he turned to me and walked over.

'So, you finally activated your Shinigami powers, Asuka-san? Not bad; not bad at all.'

I then spied my body, my _own body_, lying in a heap on the ground of the park.

'If you want to return to your body, just walk through it; you'll be back in there soon enough.'

He then walked away from me, turning his back on me just like that. Then, there was a sudden stop.

'I know that you'll have many questions about your powers, and I'll answer them soon enough, Asuka-san; but for now, wing with it. I'll tell you all you need to in one week.'

He continued to be on his way, and I shifted my view back to my body. It was quite disturbing to see my body laid down in a crumpled heap on the ground. My thoughts began to race; what my fate was to become, as a Shinigami? And what was that voice in my head? It was very warm, and had some sort of energy that protected me. It gave me strength; the will to fight.

I looked at my sword, and held it close; it looked like an ordinary samurai sword.

I grinned to myself as I put the sword back in its sheath, and couldn't help but notice that my sword was grinning too, as crazy as that statement sounds. But tomorrow was another day, and I guess that I'll have all the time that I would need if I was going to think about my recent discoveries…


End file.
